Copel Telecom reports 7.2% rise in revenue in 2012

Brazilian regional electricity provider Copel reports that revenue derived from its activities in the telecommunications market rose by 7.2% to BRL125.6 million (USD62.3 million) last year, of the back of strong subscriber growth. The utility owns Copel Telecom which reported a more than doubling of its subscriber base to 3,141 from 1,442 last year. Further, Copel noted that in the last three months of 2012 its telecoms unit booked sales of BRL33 million, up 10.2% year-on-year, although it notes that revenue from this area only constituted 1.47% of total revenue for the year. Copel Telecom closed out 2012 with a total of 9,211km of long-distance fibre-optic cables and 20,262km of fibre in metropolitan areas, serving 399 cities in the state of Parana, and two in Santa Catarina.